Top Ten Tuesday: Books That I’ve Deleted From My TBR

Top Ten Tuesday is an original blog meme created by The Broke and the Bookish. and is currently being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week’s topic is “Books I’ve Decided I’m No Longer Interested In Reading.” This weeks topic would have been so much easier to put together if I hadn’t gotten into the habit of deleting books off my TBR that I’m no longer interested in reading. Seriously, having to rely solely on my own memory for this week’s list does no one any good. Here are ten books that I managed to remember that had at one time been on my TBR. Covers are linked to Goodreads.

1. Ulysses by James Joyce – One upon a time I was gifted this book and thought I could totally read it. So young. So naive.

2. Ice Like Fire by Sara Raasch – Listen, we all know Theron stole the show in Snow Like Ashes and I’m not about to see him get treated wrong with the rest of this series.

3. Bright Smoke, Cold Fire by Rosamund Hodge – I’ve either really liked this author (Cruel Beauty) or been rather disappointed (Crimson Bound). When I saw how many eh reviews were out there for this one, I decided to skip it.

4. Roar by Cora Carmack – Have you seen excerpts from this novel? The romance is all kinds of cringe-worthy. Won’t be touching this with a 39 and a half foot pole. (Sorry, my two-year-old niece is obsessed with the Grinch song and it just plays in my head constantly now.)

5. Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas – Have you ever broken up with an author before? I have.

6. Given to the Sea by Mindy McGinnis – Yikes. I actually bought this one and tried to start it and could not justify continuing it. I ended up donating it to my library.

7. What I Thought Was True by Huntley Fitzpatrick – I really tried to like My Life Next Door, but I kind of hated it. I had this other book by the same author on my shelf, but after another book unhaul, I took it down.

8. Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan – The Lynburn Legacy remains one of my favorites, but I heard less than enthusiastic things about this novel, so never ended up reading it.

9. Sword and Verse by Kathy MacMillan – I actually considered preordering this way back in 2015/6, but held off. I’m glad I did because I haven’t seen a single stellar review for it from bloggers I trust.

10. Les Misérables by Victor Hugo – Let’s be honest, I only ever wanted to read this one because of the musical. Have you seen how thick this novel is? I can’t justify the time anymore, so I’ve put the book to other uses…

Can you convince me to put any of these back on my TBR? What’s the most recent book you deleted from your To-Be-Read shelf? Be sure to leave me a link to your own TTT post in the comments, so I can visit.

Haven’t read her other books, but I so did not care for ‘Bright Smoke.’ Made me sad because I’m really curious about her other fairy tale re-tellings. *sigh* Don’t see myself (for some reason) picking up Huntley’s books, but someday I might finally read Sara’s follow up to “Snow Like Ashes.” Happy Top Ten Tuesday, Alicia!! 🙂

Well, I can say that I enjoyed Cruel Beauty if you’re ever interested in trying out her other books. I didn’t like Huntley’s My Life Next Door and can’t see myself willfully reading the next Snow Like Ashes book after all I’ve heard.

I often feel like that about books i wanted to read but then ended up watching the adaptation first^^ i mean, i already know how the story goes then… especially les miserable.. i wouldn’t try reading this! And all the jane austen books- they are SO big!

OMG, I read excerpts from ROAR and as you said, so creepy ugh! I had to read Les Misérables in high school and I did like it but I have to admit that I probably wouldn’t have read it if I didn’t have to 🙈

I can’t even look at the Roar cover without cringing a little. I’m impressed that you got through Les Mis in high school. There is no way I would have had the patience then. I don’t even have the patience now.

Theron made the first book for me and after so long, I’m not sure the story or other characters are enough to keep me invested, so skipping the rest is best. I should have stopped at Heir of Fire, but I still felt some kind of loyalty. I really regret sticking with that particular series for another book.

I really enjoyed the Snow Like Ashes series, but I agree with you about Theron – he was a standout character in the first book, and you’re right that he’s mistreated and underappreciated in the rest of the books.

Oooh I just finished reading Les Mis after watching it for the first time and it was FANTASTIC. I think the trick to finishing that one is to listen to an audio book version– that way I could listen while I commuted to class, did laundry, cooked dinner, etc. and not feel like I was spending an exorbitant amount of time reading one book. Great list 🙂

I’m disappointed to hear that about Roar and Given to the Sea, the summaries sounded interesting and they’re such beautiful covers that I was really tempted to buy them. Might just wait for them to appear in the library at some point!

It is so hard to break up with an author/series. I know you have some I really LOVED on here (Maas) which just shows how everyone can experience books differently! Hope you find some great ones to enjoy 🙂 My Top Ten

Ice Like Fire, Bright Smoke, and Roar got the book, but mostly, because I am not reading a lot of fantasy these days. McGinnis is hit or miss for me, but again, not that into fantasy lately. I loved the Lynburn books, but I had not heard great things about Tell the Wind. I put it off so long at this point, it’s pretty much forgotten. I do love Huntly Fitzpatrick though. I hope to finish that group of books soon.

Lyburn is such a great series and when I heard about Tell the Wind and Fire I was so stoked, but for some reason I put off preordering and then all the mixed reviews came and now it’s been so long, it would be out of character for me to pick it up after all this time.

Snow Like Ashes is a book that I’ve put on my list and I’m kind of glad now that I’ve seen the series on a lot of these lists today! I’ve never read anything by Sarah J. Maas and I’m not sure that I will!

I did enjoy Snow Like Ashes, but I hate when you end up loving side characters more than main ones and the former get pushed aside for a story that wasn’t working in the first place. I’d say skip Maas, there are better fantasy writers out there.

I love both Bardugo and Schwab. Roshani Chokshi is amazing and I loved Renee Ahdieh’s first duology, Juliet Marillier was probably the first fantasy author I fell in love with, Robin Lafevers is good, Elizabeth May has a stellar series, Naomi Novik is amazing, as is Catherynne M. Valente, Zen Cho and N.K. Jemisin both rock! I’m going to stop now, but I love so many.

I`ve had to read part of Les Mis for school, and I liked them, but I never finished the book. I don`t know if I`ll ever read it. I was quite interested in reading Snow Like Ashes, but not many people seem to love the trilogy as a whole. Maybe I`ll skip it then.

Empire of Storms is where I called it quits with SJM as well. Well, a combo of EoS and whatever the third Court of Thorns and Roses book was. I really wanted to be a fan of both of those series (like everyone else seems to be) but I just don’t see whatever everyone else does in those books.

I don’t delete from my TBR but the book just goes to the bottom of the pile which means it may never be read….LOL
At this point I don’t think I will ever read Les Mis either, especially if it’s that thick!
I saw the musical and didn’t enjoy it but I think the book will probably be good.

Gosh, where do I even start? One of my main issues is how Maas writes her male love interests. They are aggressive and possessive, and considering the age range her books are directed to, it’s hard to give a thumbs up. Yes, they are fiction, but I think showing teens and other young adults healthy relationships in fiction is important.

There was a lot of inconsistencies in her novels, especially when it came to characterization and the romantic relationships could be described as toxic. I did not include the ones from that list. Now I’m feeling called out, Melanie!

One of the reasons I skipped the TTT this week was because I always go through my bookshelves and my Goodreads shelves and get rid of books and I couldn’t really remember most of what was on them.

I read the first Throne of Glass book, but I wasn’t a fan. I also read A Court of Thorns and Roses, which I loved; but that second book…OMG it was so bad and I think I am at the point that I will be breaking up with Sarah J Maas too, to be honest. I don’t plan to finish the ACOTAR series and I don’t really know if I want to continue with Throne of Glass after not really liking the first book very much.